0 My Virgin Holika Holika mini haul

Met up with a friend today and while we were talkin bout make up, she talked about this blush with cat embossed on the powder from Holika Holika (a Korean cosmetic brand by the way). Being a blush addict, I was very curious to see how it looked like so immediately after that I made my way down to the nearest store to check out the colors.

I was indeed very attracted to the cat embossment and owl embossment on the blushers..... Even though I know that I probably won't use the blushers after I bought them, I still went ahead to buy. I like loving @ pretty things u know.

Color n Payoff

As for color payoff n texture, Midnight Owl (the owl one) seems to be more glittery n powdery (I swatched them in the store) than the other 2 i bought Hello Holika and Merry Holika although in general Holika Holika's blushers feel more powdery than the usual blush that I'm used to. Color payoff is sheer to med. And one can use different parts of the blushers for diff color.

Packagin

I kinda like the packagin of the blushers... It gives me a very fairytale or magical kinda feel. U know what i mean, like Harry potter...

These are the pics of the products...

0 MAC Art of Powder haul

I bought all 3 powders from this collection. They are pcs of art by themselves... and nope, I won't be using them (I bought them mainly for collection purposes just like what I did with Marine Life from last yr's To the beach collection).

This is overall a very small collection which consist of a e/s (Street art e/s), a Bronzer (optical bronzer) and a highlighter (In the abstract highlighter). But imho, they are too beautiful to be used. And the designs are all embossed into the powder, so u won't haf to worry about the design fading off after a few uses (IF u bear to use the powders)

I would like to apologise that no swatches are availble for these products as I don't bear to swatch these products to :X :X :X :X many apologies!!!

0 Colorization - Double feature eyeshadows

Oops, I was supposed to post reviews for these eyeshadows earlier, but i didn't get about doing so till now... Basically, I  bought 4 of the double feature e/s and yes, being an addict for bright colors, all 4 colors I bought were all bright colors. Pls click for enlarged pics...and i also did some comparison swatches for 2 of the duos with other similar MAC e/s that I own..

In general, I think that the eyeshadows in this duos have pretty good color payoff and texture with the exception of the greyish on in Double feature 2. That one feels a bit chalky and a base is definitely needed for that color to appear more intensified on the eyes. Otherwise, I'm generally happy with all 4 duos i bought.

0 Benefit Bella Bamba Blush

Being a blush addict, this was on my wishlist for quite a long time ever since it was launched, but I didn't get around to buying it till recently. 

Packagin

The depth of the blush is slightly shallower than previous Benefit's blushers (which is a plus point as the other packagin are just a tad too bulky to bring out. And the cover is now a lift open lid instead of a cover like previously. I like like the multi dimensional shiny color on the packagin. Minus 1 pt...as packagin could be even less bulky. And what's with all this different weight of all the benefit blushers???? Some are 12g, some are 10g and some are 11g and Bella bamba is 8g. Can't they just standardize all the sizes??

Color & Texture

I would describe this as a coral pink blush. So if u like coral blushers, you would probably like this. And it's definitely more pigmented than Coralista. Suitable for all skintones. Do not that there is slight shimmers in this blush though, but they are not very obvious when applied.

Lasting power

More lasting on the face than the other Benefit's powder blushers that I own. 

Would not repurchase, as I have way too many blushers...but I do like this blusher though

0 MAC styledriven - Pro Long Wear eyeshadows

Am so glad that this collection is permanent, cause there are simply too many items which I want from this collection both the eyeshadows, lip glasses and lip pencils.

Since it's permanent I bought 4 eyeshadows from this collection first. Will slowly buy the rest @ a later time... (Bought sunny outlook, Sweet satisfaction, Fresh Flare and Tease with Ease)

I am totally loving the eyeshadows from this collection. Very nice smooth, blendable texture with decent color payoff and some subtle to sheen to them. 

Click for enlarged pic

And last but not least, here are some comparison swatches to other existing MAC e/s which I own...

Click for Enlarged pic

0 The "Shop My own Stash" Challenge

Decided to start "Shop My Own stash" challenge as I've realized that i've been neglecting too many stuff which I bought but didn't use. A very good example is the Dangerous Curvee paintpot which I bought from MAC cham Pale collection, but only used it once or 2x ever since i bought it..... Hopefully this post would remind me of the stuff that I have in my stash and to use them more often. 

I won't post the base products that i use for my face, as most of the time they are the same

So here's my very first shop my own stash challenge.... so basically these are the color make up which i used for my make up today..

Eye shadow base: MAC dangerous curvee paintpot

Eyeshadows: MAC cinderfella MES over dangerous curvee, MAC crystal avalance e/s in inner corner of eye and brow bone highlighter, MAC carbon e/s on 1/3 outer corner of eye, Bobbi Brown Caviar ink gel liner

Blush: Shu Uemura P amber 83 blush

Lip color: Japanese drug store brand 01 nudge beige lipgloss

0 False lashes haul

Bought these overseas @ a very reasonable price.... less than USD$10 per box for 10 pairs of lashes. And I can reuse each pair for up to 5 times. Definitely Value for money..... Now i'm regretting not buying more.

I wasn't sure how these 2 pairs of lashes would look on me so I only bought 3 boxes in total. Now after wearing, I actually like how both pairs look on me, natural but yet lengthening and volumizing. The lash band is also very soft and bendable and feels very comfortable on. Definitely repurchasing these when I go back the next time...

0 MAC Make Me Over haul

Here's my review of the Mac Me Over items which I bought.

I bought both blushers, Equilibrium and Stunner and all 5 shadesticks. Am not a lip color person so I didn't buy any lipstuff and the eye shadow colors were kinda blah to me

Here's pics and swatches of the blushers. Click on pics for enlarged pic

Am very happy with both my blush buys, especially with equilibrium. I am usually not a contour nor bronzing powder person, but i was surprised at how natural it looked on my face when applied with a light hand. And I especially liked how it faded off on me by the end of the day leaving a subtle contour behind on the face. This can work well for both fair and darker skinned ladies

As for Stunner, it is nice.... and gives a rosy pink flush on the cheeks....Recommended for fair to medium dark skinned tones. It's nothing too unique, but nevertheless, nice to have. Lasts the whole day on my cheeks as with most MAC blushers

Personally, I'm not a fan of the shadesticks as usually I've to tug at them on my eyelid to get any colorpay off or warm up the color on my fingers before applying. However, I cannot resist the colors of the shadesticks in this collection. 3 are new LE colors (Street cool, Tundra and Heirloom) and 2 are repromote LE from Sugar Sweet.

I especially like tundra because of the high silverish metallic finish it gives and this will make a good base for all my silver e/s (which sometimes i've problems making them appear because they are somehow so sheer)

Cakeshop looks especially good if layered over with a green based e/s. I tried MAC's Dalliance mega meta shadow over it and i'm totally in love.

The fluidlines are calling out to me, but I've busted my budget for this mth....so maybe..if they are still in stock later in the mth I might get them. Otherwise, i'm giving them a pass. 

Update: I love heirloom shade stick too. Used it together with my Performance art e/s (from cinematics which has a slight taupe undertone to it) with satin taupe and loved how it helped to make the color of Performance Art e/s pop

0 MAC Pro longwear Foundation

Not really into foundations, but I decided to try this one out after reading good reviews about this foundation. 

It is supposedly to last up to 15hours and is sweat resistant and helps to control oil on the face and gives buildable medium coverage.

My comments after a week of using this foundation:

1. I find this to be a tad more orangy / yellow than my MAC mineralized satin and cream (using NC20 in both the mineralied satin and pro longwear foundation),

2. It looks very nice n flawless when first applied, but after a few hrs, it has a tendency (even with a primer) to cake up slightly. Not a nice sight especially when u have slightly dry skin as it will enhance the flakes on the skin...... :X :X

3. It does last longer on the face. Less touch ups is needed.

4. It is mattifying, Not recommended for people with dry skin.

Overall rating: 3/5

Would i repurchse this again: Probably Not. I personally prefer the mineralized satin / cream and face and body foundation to this as they don't cake up on my skin. 

0 Latest MAC haul....

Forget about make up bans. I will never be disciplined enuff to go on one what with MAC always releasing new and LE collections each month. I surrender :X :X 

Here's my MAC haulage from the last week or so.. As u can see, I'm very into bright e/s colors... I have a soft spot for them

Colorization haul:  Double feature 1 (yellow, purple), Double feature 2 (Lime green, Grey),

Double feature 3 (Turqoise, brown), Double feature 4 (Forest green, brown)

Pro longwear e/s:  Sunny outlook (yellow), Fresh flare (green), Sweet satisfaction (neutral), Tease with ease (Plumish pink)

Colorizations: Performance art (neutral), Waterfront (blue), Purple haze (purple)

MAC me over : Heirloom shadestick, Butternutty shadestick, Cakeshop shadestick, Tundra shadestock, Street cool shadestick, Stunner blush, Equilibrium blush

Will post review and swatches @ a later date... stay tuned :) No more make up for me this month....... HOPEFULLY....

0 Nars blush swatches in Oasis, Madly & Douceur

I know I'm supposed to be on a make up ban, but I guess when it comes to things like blushers and LE collections, I can't help breaking the ban >.< Got my friend to CP these 3 blushers from overseas when she went on a holiday recently. My aim is to collect all NARs blushers one day....

Here are the pic n swatches of the blushers. Pls click the pictures for enlarged picture

Oasis

Has red undertone to it. Would describe this color more as a reddish brown. Fair skinned ladies have to be very light handed with this. Perfect for ladies with medium to tanned skin tones

 

Madly

Leaning towards the orange-brown side. Would say that this is more of a bronzing color rather than a blush. Fair skin ladies may have to apply this with a light hand as if over applied, it may be too orangey. Recommended more for ladies with medium to tanned skin tone

Douceur

 Would describe this as a plum - brown shades. Helps to give the a slightly sculpted look. Do not apply this especially if u have a fairer skin tone as it might give a brusied look on the cheeks if u apply too much of this